A lift failure at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital has forced elderly and mobility-impaired patients to use stairs in the orthopaedic building, prompting the BMC to seek a factual report, demand a standard operating procedure and expedite installation of a replacement lift.
The building’s sole lift has been shut since the end of August for repairs, according to hospital dean Harish Pathak. The failure came to public attention after a video showed an elderly patient with a plastered leg dragging himself up the stairs. Another elderly woman was taken upstairs while seated in a wheelchair.
Pathak said a circular had earlier directed staff to redirect patients requiring assistance to the main hospital building, where lifts remain operational. However, he acknowledged that the patients seen in the video should not have been admitted to the orthopaedic building while its only lift was unavailable.
“The deputy municipal commissioner (DMC) (health) has verified the facts and met the patients. The lift has been shut since the end of Aug… These patients should not have been admitted to the orthopaedic building. It is a violation of the circular, and we are issuing a memo to the unit head concerned,” Pathak said.
He said the patient shown in the video was able to walk independently, but the weight of the plaster and his advanced age made climbing the stairs difficult. The incident has raised concerns about how hospital access protocols are being implemented when essential building infrastructure is unavailable.
According to Pathak, repairs to the lift had been due since 2023 but could not be undertaken earlier because it was the building’s only lift. The lift shaft itself required structural repairs before a new lift could be installed, and that work has now been completed.
The replacement lift was scheduled for installation early next week. The contractor has been given 45 days to complete the work, while the process is being expedited on the DMC’s instructions, Pathak said.
BMC officials have asked the hospital to submit a factual report on the video within 10 days. The civic body has also directed the hospital to establish a standard operating procedure to prevent patients with mobility limitations from being sent to buildings where essential vertical access is unavailable.
The case places the focus on both the condition of hospital infrastructure and the enforcement of access safeguards during prolonged repairs. The next formal steps are the hospital’s report to the BMC, the proposed installation of the replacement lift and the implementation of the new operating procedure.
